Watching Television Shapes Our Views

¶ … watching television shapes our views about each other. The writer explores two television shows to determine what message is being sent and what the television shows tell the viewers about each other. There were two sources used to complete this paper.

When it comes to where Americans get their views and opinions of each other, television will get named as the source more than any other medium. Television is a pervasive and constant in the lives of most Americans. Whether it is tuning into one's favorite show or watching a new show for the first time, one shapes views of other people based on what they see on the screen. It is interesting to note that television does often mimic real life but also has to shorten real life events to get them wrapped up by the time the show is over. This alone may create the belief that things can be handled much more quickly than they actually can. Race and gender are two areas that are constantly under scrutiny because of the things that television portrays. Mass media holds the power to determine how people relate to each other in the way race and gender are viewed. Television shows have a deep responsibility in how these two issues are presented. The shows ER and Trading Spaces both handle the issues of race and gender with some hint of old fashioned thinking.

ER

The show called ER is a modern day show set in an urban Chicago Hospital. The show revolves around the lives of several residents and interns. Those who watch the show regularly are intertwined with the individual lives and loves of the doctors, residents and interns who are in the core group of the show. Those who watch regularly have gotten to know each cast member and have become involved in their individual personalities and family lives.

The show is as much about the lives of those who work there as it is about those who come in to the emergency room for treatment.

While watching the show since its inception I did not give a lot of thought to what was being said about race and gender through the use of the script and the cast. After getting this assignment I forced myself to use a watchful eye to see if there were messages being sent about race and gender.

In the last show I watched there were several messages being sent about race and gender through the use of dialogue and show plot. The show was centered around several patients who had come in and been treated. One was about two people who had been involved in a car accident. It was a brother and sister and the brother was burned so badly that he was not going to live through the week. The sister was injured and paralyzed at least to the end of the show.

Messages about gender were throughout the show as nurse Carol boo hooed because as a pregnant single woman she did not ask doctor Doug to come back to live in Chicago because she did not want him to only come back for the baby. The boy in the trauma unit was tough at the age of 18 when he calmed his dad and mom on the phone before they put the ventilator in his throat. He knew he would die without being able to talk again but still he remained stoic and manly in his handling of the situation. His sister on the other hand was all girl in the way she reacted to her accident injuries.

The show is on channel seven and it is on Thursday evenings.

The target markets for this show are viewers in their 20's and 30's though many outside of that age range also tune in each week.

I believe this is the target market because of the age of those who play the central characters as well as the many life issues that they deal with. Young pregnant nurses, doctors getting ready to marry, the AIDS and other medical issues that are being dealt with in the staff of the hospital all indicate that the target market is between 24 and 40 years old.

Gender roles are portrayed with several elements. First, there are almost all women nurses on the staff. There may be one or two male nurses that pop in periodically however, the bulk of nurses are female which is an old fashioned viewpoint.

Gender roles are also portrayed as men being strong and women being weak by the reaction of the parents when they get told their son will die. Mom falls to the ground in a weak state of mess while dad is stoic and holds her and tries to comfort her. In addition when the boy who is going to die gets on the phone with his parents he is tough, even joking with his dad that he didn't think he would be making it to the lake that summer because he was told he most likely would not live through the week.

In the second episode that I watched there were definite racial issues being portrayed in the show as the black doctor faces racism head on in the emergency room. In that episode a woman who was waiting to be seen is surprised to see a black doctor walk in. She hesitates for a minute and then tells the doctor she would feel more comfortable with a white doctor doing the exam. Peter seems taken aback by this and even angry but remains professional throughout and gets a white doctor to see the patient. The interesting twists to this episode is the woman who does not want a black doctor is black herself.

The various portrayals provide influences in how people view each other especially in the context of racial issues. The use of a black female patient who wanted a white doctor provides influence that racism is insidious and alive in the nation, even at the top of the professions...the medical profession.

It also influences people to continue with the old men are tough and women can be weak. This reinforces the age old belief that men are to take care of women.

The most interesting thing about this analysis and the results was the fact that it was so stereotypical. While the show has non-stereotypical aspects of it as well including a female director or chief of the ER in the handicapped character Carrie.

The stereotypical portrayals are more prevalent in the life situations of the characters than they are in the professional lives and actions of the characters. Each character is as capable as the opposite sex when it comes to gender, however, once the real life issues become involved the show takes off into the stereotypical portrayal of men and women.

The most surprising thing about this show was the fact that the writers managed to maintain non-stereotypical standards when it came to the professional conduct of the characters, but when they wrote about the real lives of the characters the writers slipped into old fashioned and stereotypical attitudes.

A watch this television show because it is fast moving and it allows me to see the life of those in a fast paced profession. Over the years I have become attached to the characters and I want to see how their various problems and dilemmas resolve themselves or get resolved.

TRADING SPACES have never watched the show called Trading Spaces, but I have many friends who do watch it. I chose this show as the second show for analysis because it is not a sitcom, it is a reality show which would be a true portrayal of the way media shapes our views on each other.

The show is about two families who live near each other that trade houses for a weekend. During the weekend they work with a professional decorator and carpenters to redecorate one of their neighbor's rooms for under a thousand dollars.

The show has an interesting premise as it travels nationwide to different types of families which gives the viewers an inside look at people attitudes.

The target market for the show is obviously homeowners as the people who trade places need to own the homes so that they can authorize the redecorating work.